


Where it All Started

by callingallfreaks



Series: What Happens in the Minyard-Josten Household [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, Other, andrew and neil acquire a small child on accident, fostering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 06:38:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17198423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callingallfreaks/pseuds/callingallfreaks
Summary: Andrew notices something concerning about one of the kids on the little league team he's coaching.





	Where it All Started

**Author's Note:**

> This is the beginning of a slices of life story I'm working on, so it's pretty small. They'll mostly be relatively small, I think. That's not to say I'll never write a longer one at some point, but my idea here is sort of a day in the life stories. Anyway, any feedback you want to provide is appreciated. Constructive criticism is your friend! Any issues with you see, don't hesitate to call me out on them. That's how we learn. Thanks!

Adopting a child had never been a part of the plan, and Andrew knew that they were woefully unprepared for the raising of said child. Life, however, liked to smash them to the ground and then kick them a few times for good measure. Andrew’d had a good run as one of the most successful goalies in Exy history, as short a time period as that really was in the grand scheme of things, but a knee injury had removed him from the game permanently at only 29. After seven years, including a gold Olympic medal under his belt, Andrew had realized how much he’d truly enjoyed the sport.

What was the quote? You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. 

Unable to play anymore, he’d decided that the next best thing was to take up coaching in his spare time. Between that and working on a novel, that he swore he’d never publish anyway, he kept himself busy. They could more than afford plane tickets for Andrew to tag along to whatever game Neil was going to be playing if he had a weekend off from coaching, and if not, he just stayed at home and pretended he didn’t miss his junkie.

It hadn’t been long into his coaching gig that he’d realized that something was going on with one of his players. The kid was scrawny, and there was always a bruise somewhere. He kept to himself and he didn’t make eye contact. He was also the youngest member of the team. The father had practically begged Andrew to take his son onto his team, and against his better judgement, Andrew had agreed. The youngest he had said he’d accept was 6, but this kid had turned 5 just a few weeks before the official word had come out that Andrew Minyard was going to be coaching a little league team.

Something in the kid’s eyes while he stood behind his father had caught Andrew’s attention and made him hesitate. He looked like he could use an escape, and if he wasn’t able to keep up with the other kids, he could always have him help out as a sort of assistant when needed. 

He needn’t have worried, though. The kid was small and fast and could work his way around the bigger kids with no trouble, much like Neil could. He was talented, it was true, but he didn’t seem to care about the game at all. It hit Andrew with a sense of wonder that this kid was such a perfect combination of himself and Neil. So when he came to practice with a bruise on his left cheek clearly in the shape of fingerprints, Andrew knew he had to step in. 

A quick call to Renee, who had friends in high places when it came to social services, and a DCS worker was out there on an unscheduled visit. The father had apparently been screaming at the kid when the social worker had been walking up to the house, and every vile word had been heard clearly through a cracked open window. 

The kid was removed from the house, and the man had been arrested on suspicions of child abuse. Andrew had considered his job done, but when his doorbell rang the next day, Renee and the social worker were both standing there, and behind them, a bored looking 5 year old holding a stuffed dog under his arm. Apparently the kid had refused to eat or drink anything unless they’d agree to let him keep playing Exy and he wanted to see Andrew to say thanks for stepping in.

The kid, however, had more on his mind than a simple thank you. He’d squeezed himself between the two women and toed his shoes off. Without a word he’d walked over to Neil and asked for a cup of milk. Ten minutes later he’d declared he’d sleep on the couch if the cats were allowed to sleep with him. 

Andrew had quickly realized this kid had played that social worker like a pro. He had no intention of being placed in another foster home.

“Tyler, you can’t just make that call yourself,” the social worker had said, not unkindly. “We just came so you could say thanks, remember?”

“What are the cats names?” he asked Andrew, not looking away from King as she sat on his leg and butted her nose into his face. 

“That’s King. She’s a girl. And the other one is Sir.” Andrew replied, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Renee, who was trying to hide her laughter. 

“Well, Tyler, come on, sweetheart we should go.”

“I’ll sleep on the couch, that’s okay with me,” he replied, his words still having the cadence of a very small child. Some of his ‘r’s came out more like ‘w’s. “I’ve slept in worse places. I don’t need a bedroom or anything. I’m okay with Andrew, he can look after me.” He leveled a gaze on Andrew that was older than it had any right being. He hesitated for a long minute and then nodded, as though he had convinced himself. “I trust him.”

“Mr. Minyard, I am really sorry about this,” the social worker said. “I don’t know what we’ll do with him he’s got so much personality really.”

“Well I guess we’ll get a blanket and pillow for him tonight and start searching for a bigger apartment tomorrow. It’s not like I have a life or anything.” He aimed the last comment at Tyler, who smiled over King’s head.

At first the social worker had hesitated, but Neil and Andrew already had a valid foster license from a few months before when they’d taken in one of Aaron’s patients kids while the parents were in a physical therapy rehab facility after a bad car crash, so they were a perfectly legal house for Tyler to stay in. 

They signed some paperwork and the lady did a quick inspection of their apartment to make sure everything passed their standards, and an hour later, they were alone with a five year old who was complaining loudly that they didn’t have anything to eat in their house that wasn’t broccoli or ice cream. 

They ordered pizza and the kid was asleep on the couch by 9pm. Andrew glanced over at Neil, who was staring at him with a smile.

“Well this is quite a sudden change,” he said. “He seems to really trust you.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Andrew replied, carefully draping the blanket over the tiny form huddled up on the couch. “I didn’t really talk to you about it, though. It happened so fast.”

“I wouldn’t have had a problem with it anyway,” Neil said, coming behind Andrew and sliding his arms around Andrew’s narrow waist. “I guess this makes you a stay at home mom now, huh.”

“I might not be wearing them, but you know where my knives are.”

Neil just laughed.


End file.
